Ladies' choice
by slythadri
Summary: AU, EWE, OOC. The students of the 8th year at Hogwarts are organizing the Yule ball to celebrate a new era of peace, but they also want to find a new era of love...or lust. Dramione, Hansy, other pairings. One shot. Rated M for language and sexual situations.


It was the Yule season of 1998. After the war, a group of older students had come back to Hogwarts to complete their 7th year, so they could take their NEWTs and be fully prepared to take apprenticeships or continue with other types of training. They were called the 8th years, and with the support of the Headmistress, they all made a conscious effort to come back as peers, letting go of old ideas and resentments. Some of the Slytherin students were under probation, because of their involvement with the Death Eaters, but they all have been underage and under duress, so they were given the opportunity to have a normal student life again. The students from other houses that came back were advised thoroughly to be open-minded and forgiving, there was no point in holding onto grudges after a war in which all of them had been children soldiers, used by either side for their purposes.

The students that should have finished their education during the war were assigned separate quarters because they were all of age and also to promote house unity. And they had raised to the occasion. The first month or so was a bit awkward, but by the time Halloween came around they were all friendly and relaxed, and some sparks of flirtation were starting to show between them. The couples that existed before the war all split up. Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson, all of them decided to preserve their close friendships and have a clean cut. So by the time the Yule season arrived the group of young adults was starting to get restless, the old inter-house tension replaced by little clouds of sexual tension among the group.

When the Headmistress called them to propose a Yule ball to celebrate the new beginnings the 8th years all jumped at the idea. They all became the unofficial organizing committee and spent hours planning and decorating. Still, there was one point of contention: how to make the best of the ball as a matchmaking opportunity, without having to go through the excruciating process they did back in fourth year when everyone was so nervous about getting a date. The boys were particularly rattled at the prospect of going through that again, so the girls came up with a solution: the theme of the ball would be Ladies' Choice.

Each boy will make an entrance and one of the girls would offer to be their partner and escort them to the dance floor. Among them, the 8th year girls agreed that all the available boys were quite cute, so even if you didn't get your first choice it wouldn't be a bad night for anyone. Yet, it would be so much better if they could come up with a way to ensure the best possible matches were made because it was tempting in a moment of panic to go for a close friend to be safe and that would take away the chance from someone who really liked the boy.

To ensure that an equal number of boys and girls of age would be available the girls added Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood to their ranks, to the chagrin of other 7th year girls. Still, since they were all a bit nervous and indecisive about which boy to choose, they tried to find some sort of impartial judge of their chemistry. The only ones who were not fretting were Parvati Patil and Susan Bones, as they had already been flirting with each other and by the time of this discussion had agreed to go together to the ball. It was Parvati who suggested maybe asking to use the Sorting Hat.

"No way!" said Pansy Parkinson, "I'm going to wear my hair in an up-do and that raggy old hat would ruin it."

The other girls laughed but agreed that asking McGonagall for the hat to help them get laid was not exactly the right thing to do.

As always, Hermione Granger thought she may have a good, scholarly solution to the problem.

"Give me a couple of days, I think I have an idea."

Two days later the girls were all gathered by the lake having a picnic and discussing the final details of the dance, all settled under a wonderful warming charm dome and having some great wine that Daphne Greengrass had sneaked in with the help of old Aberforth Dumbledore and his secret passage. The old crook didn't give a damn about school rules, so he was the perfect ally for any mischief, and lately, he was bored, so he was all for trafficking liquor into the school for the students that were of age.

When Hermione joined the gathering she had a mischievous smile.

"Ladies, let me present my latest invention," she said raising a small vial of a fuchsia colored substance. "This is Amortentia number 7, my own twist on the old brew."

Daphne asked

"What about numbers two to six?"

Hermione rolled her eyes

"Muggle reference. Muggles like to name perfumes with numbers, like Chanel number 5 and Love Potion number 9. It gives an aura of mystery. Please let me have my little creative moment here."

They all raised their hands in surrender and asked her to continue with her explanation.

"The original Amortentia creates a sense of infatuation on the receiver about the person who gave it to them. This is different. Amortentia number 7 is more like a wake-up call. We all take it and when we see the person that we really want the sexual desire becomes undeniable, no matter how shy you are or how confused you have been. It will ring an alarm on your knickers and let them make the decision for you."

An explosion of laughter came after that.

"Granger you are an evil genius. Deviant, but genius."

"Well thank you, Pansy. That is quite the compliment" she smirked.

"Shouldn't we try it before we all take such a leap? I'm a bit nervous about it, to be honest" said Daphne.

Susan took the vial

"Let's give it a try. Parvati, are you in?"

The other girl smiled and nodded "How do we do this?"

Hermione explained

"Put one drop on your wine and tell us what you feel"

They both did. Everyone looked at them expectantly. Susan's eyes widened and she stuttered

"I…I…I… oh sweet Circe"

Parvati stood up and offered her hand

"Bedroom. Now."

Susan nodded and took the offered hand. When she stood up she cupped Parvati's face and gave her a lascivious kiss before the two girls ran towards the castle like they were on fire.

The other girls rolled in the floor laughing.

"I think we have a winner," said Ginny. "But we better make sure to not jump the guys until we are out of the Great Hall."

They all agreed and clink their glasses, excited for the upcoming adventure.

Finally, the evening of the Yule Ball arrived and the girls were giddy and excited. They all stood by the refreshments table, goblets of punch spiked with vodka, again courtesy of old Aberforth.

"Ladies, the moment of truth," said Hermione and she add one drop of Amortentia number 7 to each goblet. They all raised their goblets and Pansy said a toast.

"To love…or lust"

They all laughed

"To love or lust," they responded in unison.

Pansy was feeling very nervous so she was being quite chatty

"I'm glad we are all here, all the friendliness and all the sweet stuff is great, but some of the changes around here this year got me changing my knickers every hour. Like what's with Longbottom going from ugly duckling to ... to..."

"James Bond?" said Hermione

"Who?"

"Muggle reference. Super hot badass secret agent guy."

"Yup, sounds like Longbottom alright. Wasn't he leading the underground resistance here at Hogwarts? I know we Slytherins were all just keeping our heads down during that time because we had the dark wizards in our homes trying to turn us to their side, but I spent many a night fantasizing about him, all that talk about a secret room in the castle where he hid, I was always wondering if he had some cot where he would take a willing girl for a good shag."

The girls laughed. Ginny said

"Wow Pansy, that's an elaborated fantasy right there. So that's who you are picking tonight?"

She shrugged

"Longbottom's a hunk, but I think I'll wait to see if this little potion makes him the man of my dreams. Or should I say the man of my clit?"

Padma nodded

"So, the most improved award goes to Neville Longbottom. If you approve say aye."

All the girls raise their goblets

"Aye!"

More laughter, but Ginny got on guard. She had been Neville's date for the Yule ball back when he was awkward, she thought, she had more right than anyone to ride the late blossoming stud. As if summoned, Neville Longbottom walked through the doors of the great hall. As soon as he stood on the threshold Ginny felt like her knickers were on fire. She shouted shamelessly

"Shotgun bitches!" And she sprinted towards Neville. She stood in front of him, composing herself and giving him a seductive look

"Mr. Longbottom, may I escort you tonight?' she said while she ran a finger over his tie, biting her lower lip in a mischievous smile.

He lifted a sexy eyebrow and took the hand from his tie to kiss the knuckles with a hint of a suckling in his lips. Ginny's breath caught on her throat. Hot, hot, hotness.

"It would be my pleasure, Miss Weasley." And he guided her to the dance floor.

Daphne asked Pansy

"Disappointed?"

Pansy shook her head

"Nup. He gave me a little tingle down below but nothing like what Susan and Parvati obviously felt yesterday. I think my Prince Clit Charmer is still to come."

The girls chuckled at the salacious comment. Daphne sigh

"Speaking of things that have changed around here, I'm totally digging Weasley with his new look. The long hair and the beard make him look…rugged."

Hermione chuckled

"Is the Charlie look. He spent the summer in Romania with his older brother Charlie, doing basic dragon training. Charlie is a mega hottie, all rugged and sexy. And I think Ron is following on his steps. I just can't really notice him that much because we are way too close, he's like a brother to me."

At that moment Ron walked through the doors and stood, waiting. Daphne felt a strong shiver down her spine all the way to her core.

"Well, he is no brother of mine. Tonight I'm going to make him my kissing cousin. If you excuse me…"

She walked straight to Ron and gave a perfect curtsy. Ron looked thrilled, a huge simile on his face. The other girls watched the interaction attentively and Pansy said to Hermione

"That potion of yours is potent as hell. Daphne is usually very shy; when we proposed the Ladies' Choice theme for the ball she was terrified. Now she is all like 'I'm gonna get me a quim kissing cousin' or something".

Hermione laughed so hard she spat some punch through her nose.

"Wow Pansy, I knew you were blunt, but tonight you are on fire."

"Well thank you, Granger, happy to entertain you. So, who do you think will be your knickers shaker?"

Hermione blushed lightly

"I guess we'll see." She had an idea of who, but she also had a lot of trouble wrapping her head around it. But the potion would make her face her fears. That worked for her.

Blaise Zabini stood by the doors, looking like a million galleons. Luna, who had been mostly quiet put her goblet on the refreshments table and smiled dreamily to the other girls

"Time to find out if Blaise is really as kinky as they say. I'm in the mood for flogging tonight."

Pansy and Padma gaped, but Hermione just shook her head laughing. Typical Luna. She probably didn't need the potion, and only took it to be a good sport. Blaise was in for quite a night.

"Speaking of improvements, Harry Potter is looking quite yummy these days" said Padma.

Pansy nodded

"Edible. Totally edible."

Hermione giggled. He was like a brother too but she couldn't deny he had a bad boy air these days that made him quite enticing.

The next hunk to walk through the door was Theo Nott. All three girls felt something, Theo was a very handsome guy, but Padma felt a full on pool on her knickers.

"I'm going to see if Mr. Nott there is in the mood for some Kama Sutra tonight," said Padma winking to the other two.

After they were done laughing Pansy said

"Well Granger, we are running out of options here. Either you want to make a move on your 'brother' -she made air quotes- or you want a certain blonde to slither-in" she said wiggling her eyebrows playfully."

Hermione blushed but didn't have time to answer. Draco Malfoy was standing by the doors and she felt like the ground open beneath her feet, and she had to make an effort to not run and jump him to the ground.

"Oh fuck me," she said, leaving her goblet on the table and walking towards the wizard.

Pansy snickered

"Oh, he will. He will fuck you into the mattress" she said raising her goblet in a mocking toast. She watched as Draco watched Hermione approach him, looking like a boy that got the biggest pile of gifts on Christmas morning. The two of them skipped the formal salute and wrapped their arms around each other, going straight for a passionate kiss. They better take that to the room of requirement or a broom closet before they perform an indecent act in public.

Tired of waiting, Pansy rolled her eyes, gulping down her spiced punch and she was about to pour herself another when she felt a shiver down her spine. She turned around slowly to see Harry Potter standing on the threshold of the Great Hall, looking divine. Perfectly fitted robes, a gorgeous smile and he gave her a mischievous eyebrow lift when their eyes met.

She had to steady herself by holding onto the table because her eyes flutter shut and her body shook in a small convulsion: she had an orgasm standing right there.

"Fucking Granger why she had to be such a genius" she muttered to herself, her knees failing.

Harry saw her wobble and ran to her side, catching her in his arms. She opened her eyes and his gorgeous emerald orbs were looking at her with concern.

"Pansy are you ok? Is there anything I can do for you?"

Her mouth moved before she could consider her words

"Would you kiss me?"

He smiled sweetly and dipped to catch her lips on his. This was going to be a spectacular night.


End file.
